Page 28 of Culinary Chaos (Hotel Bombshell #1)

Chapter

Twenty-One

“ G ot a minute?” Hope asked, trying to get Rex’s attention.

Angelica hadn’t been out of her room since Hope had put her in there three days before. Hope was aware that she had cancelled her trip to her hotel, but that was about it.

Rex nodded and walked toward her. “What’s up?”

“I wanted to talk about filming.” Hope crossed her arms and started to walk back toward the garden. Something about being outside drew her, and she wanted to spend as much time there as possible. It was gloriously beautiful. It fed her soul in a way that she hadn’t been fed in a very long time.

“You should be talking to Kyle or Josef.”

“I know, but… I want to bounce an idea off you first.” Hope looked around, making sure that there wasn’t anyone else around. She didn’t need this getting out. “Angelica’s pretty sick.”

Rex frowned. “Have you been checking on her?”

“Making sure she’s drinking water and eating something… yeah.” Hope sighed, sitting on one of the hard log benches that had been carved out for the aesthetic. “I think she needs a doctor, but that’s going to be a battle, I’m sure.”

“She’s that bad?” Rex sounded concerned now, and Hope was glad. It seemed like no one had been paying attention to the fact that Angelica was slowly wasting away.

“She is,” Hope said, wanting him to really understand. Maybe if he did then everyone else would. “So I wanted to talk about filming.”

“Filming?” Rex frowned at her. “We don’t start for a few more days.”

“Right, but I don’t think she’s going to be up to it in a few days.

Not with the way she’s going.” Hope rubbed her hands together, staring down at her feet on the dirt pathway.

“I want to focus more on the kitchen if we can, maybe give her a bit of a break. Not exclude her part entirely, but maybe make some drama with the kitchens or build up an idea where I’m taking on more of that time than she is. ”

Rex hummed, crossing an ankle over his knee. “She won’t like that.”

“I’m not sure about that.” Hope bit her lower lip. “Especially depending on how we pitch it to her, but that’s why I wanted to talk to you first. Maybe we can find a way to make this happen?”

Sighing heavily, Rex sat in the silence. Hope stared at him before looking at the horizon.

She continued on, “One of the main issues here is just how seasonal the hotel is. We need to find a way to build up the summer income.”

“What were you thinking?” Rex asked.

“Catering? Weddings? Both can work well, and the kitchen staff already understands how to do most of that, I think. Either way, it’s not that difficult to add to it.

Or even partnering with some other bed-and-breakfasts to add to their repertoire of food stuffs.

Also just working with local small bed-and-breakfasts to fill in for them when they’re out for whatever reason so they don’t have to close down for a week or more at a time.

” Hope was back to biting her lip as she looked at him, waiting for his approval of her crazy idea.

“That could work.”

Hope’s heart thudded. That was exactly what she’d wanted to hear. It would solve two problems at once, wouldn’t it? “Let me talk to her and see what she thinks.”

“You’re going to talk to her now?” Rex looked at her skeptically.

“Yeah.” Hope tensed. What was he sensing exactly?

“You two seem to be getting along better. At least you did toward the end of New Orleans.”

“Yeah, I guess we are.” Hope softened her tone, listening more to what he was saying and what he wasn’t saying to her.

What exactly did he know? And how exactly was she ever going to explain to him what had happened?

Because she didn’t want to keep that information from him.

It was a wedge in their relationship, and she hated that it was there.

“That’s good. She’s not exactly easy to get along with.”

Hope didn’t comment on that. She had a theory that it wasn’t Angelica who was hard to get along with, but the expectations that everyone put on her for how she was supposed to act.

And in turn, those expectations immediately put Angelica on the outskirts of the group.

But Hope hadn’t experienced enough of everyone together yet to see if that was actually true.

“She’s going to be upset about the lack of screen time, though.” Rex slapped a hand down onto his knee. “You’ll need to be prepared for that.”

“You really think she will?”

“Absolutely. The Ice Fairy is just as much a princess as everyone else in this world, and she’s here to make money and get her face out there, and she can’t do that if she’s not on camera often.” Rex gave Hope a direct look now. “You have the same problem.”

She resented that. She didn’t like that he was lumping her into the category of a diva who would throw a fit when she didn’t get what she wanted.

But she also couldn’t deny the fact that there was some kind of truth to what he was saying.

What was the point in being on a television show if her face wasn’t on the camera at least a little bit?

She wanted to grow her businesses and do something new.

And the only way to do that was to have camera time.

“That’s going to be the argument, Hope. So if you’re going to walk into that arena, be prepared for the battle at hand. If she agrees, we can talk to Kyle and Josef about adjusting the schedule and the plan.” Rex stood up and walked off.

The breeze was cool against Hope’s cheeks. But the sun shone down on her, warming her skin at the same time. She stayed there, breathing in the peace and serenity that she wanted to overtake her. But why? She’d never felt so unbalanced before. So why was she feeling that now?

Angelica.

There was no doubt in her mind that Angelica was the reason she was feeling off-kilter.

Or rather, her reaction to Angelica. That was something Hope was going to have to figure out, but first, she had to make sure that Angelica was actually being taken care of and doing the things that she needed to do.

Pushing herself up, Hope walked back into the hotel and started down the hallway toward Angelica’s room. She pulled the key out of her pocket and slipped it into the door with a quick knock. She’d done that so many times over the last few days that she was used to it.

Angelica was still in bed, her hair mussed, her cheeks still pale. Immediately, Hope checked the food and water to see if Angelica had actually eaten. And while it seemed she’d nibbled, she hadn’t made much of a dent.

“I have a proposal for you,” Hope said, sitting on the edge of the mattress.

Angelica raised an eyebrow at her, automatically crossing her arms and then waiting for Hope to continue.

“I’m going to give you two options, neither of which you’re going to like.

” Hope ran the palms of her hands up and down her thighs.

Nerves tangled with excitement, and she wasn’t quite sure what to do with any of it.

She waited another beat, expecting Angelica not to respond at all, and when there was still silence, she continued, “You can either go to the doctor, or we can have one come here, and you can shoot part of this episode with me.”

Angelica scoffed loudly.

“Oh, hold that thought.” Hope put her finger out to stop Angelica from saying anything. “Because there is one more option that you can choose.”

“And?” Angelica asked, her voice crackly and hoarse.

“You can stay in this bed, be sick, and I’ll shoot the entire episode without you. I’ve already talked it over with the guys, and we’re looking at ways to rearrange the schedule.”

“You’re going to cut me from my own show?” Angelica sighed heavily, her lips thinning.

Hope hated this, but it was nice to see Angelica actually thinking about the options.

If she was truly up to par, then she’d be pushing back on each one.

Hope was sure of that. She wanted that Angelica back.

Not this woman who was only half here and probably hadn’t showered since the day they’d arrived. Maybe this would motivate that too.

“You have your choices,” Hope added, not wanting to push on what she’d said for fear that Angelica would find the cracks in her argument, and there were so many of them.

She’d pushed the truth into something that wasn’t even present in this room at the moment.

“Doctor and filming or you just stay in bed while I take over.”

Hope was betting that Angelica’s control freak mentality was going to take over and that she wouldn’t let Hope run the show without her—which Hope absolutely didn’t want to do.

“You’re blackmailing me.”

“Not really,” Hope answered. “I’m just giving you two very clear options. Neither of which you want to do.”

Angelica sighed heavily. “Fine. Call the doctor.”

“Perfect.” Hope pointed at the cup of water. “Drink that, and I’ll go make the call.”

As soon as she stepped out of the room, Hope grinned. She leaned against the door and sighed in relief. It had worked. She nearly couldn’t believe it, but here she was, with the exact answer she’d wanted.

Talking with Tatum, it didn’t take long to find a doctor who could come and visit Angelica.

And when Hope brought her into the room, she was glad to see that Angelica had actually gotten up and drank the water.

That was at least a good start. But Hope wasn’t happy to see that Angelica was going to be forced to lie in bed for the next hour hooked up to an IV.

“The fastest way to get over it is to go to a lower altitude.”

Angelica glared at the doctor, full-on glare. Hope had to hide her laugh behind her hand. She hadn’t anticipated that the doctor would be telling Angelica the one thing that Hope had tried to avoid which was to keep Angelica from shooting.

“That’s not possible,” Angelica said, her voice far firmer now than it had been twenty minutes ago. She’d been much softer when it was only her and Hope in the room together.

“Your choice,” the doctor said. “I’ll be back in a bit. Don’t take that out.”

When she was gone, Hope sat back on the bed and looked Angelica over. “Altitude sickness.”

“It sounds made up.” Angelica glared, but it wasn’t focused on Hope, which was a good thing.

“Everything’s made up, in one way or another, if you think about it.”

“I bet you’re enjoying this.”

“Hardly.” Hope sighed. “About filming…”

“I’m not leaving.”

“I never thought you would. What I was going to say is that I think we should focus a little more on the kitchens this time around. I was going to talk to Tatum about adding in catering for sure and then perhaps focusing on getting more weddings here during the summer. I can handle that since it’ll fall under events which is partially my job. ”

“But also mine,” Angelica added.

“Yes, also yours.”

Angelica seemed to calm down by that agreement. Hope stared at Angelica’s hand where the IV was pressed into her skin. This was a hail Mary, but God she hoped it worked. She needed Angelica back, the way she was before so they could do the things they needed to do.

“I need to go through the finances still,” Angelica said. “I haven’t had a chance, and every time I open the books to look at them, I start to get dizzy.”

“I think that’s a sign that you shouldn’t be doing it then.” Hope let out a little laugh before she stilled. “Let me do it.”

“Hope…” Angelica’s voice gentled.

“Let me,” Hope tried again, pleading. She could do this, Angelica knew she had the capability.

She’d proven that already. But that wasn’t the issue.

The problem was that Angelica had to release that control and allow Hope to do it for her, to take over that responsibility and trust that Hope would do it well.

Angelica sighed, staring down at her hand and flexing her fingers before she raised her gaze to meet Hope’s again. “Why?”

“Why what?” Hope was taken aback. Of all the things she thought Angelica would say, it wasn’t that. She’d expected the flat-out denial, the refusal, the excuses as to why she couldn’t do it and Angelica had to, but she hadn’t expected this.

“Why let you?”

Hope pressed her lips together tightly. Something in this moment seemed so intense and precious at the same time.

She couldn’t mess this up. She couldn’t ruin what they’d been working so hard to build between them.

Hope chose her words carefully, wanting and needing Angelica to fully understand where she was coming from.

“If there’s one thing that I know and understand, it’s this.

This show, Hotel Bombshell , is only going to succeed if you and I learn to work together and trust each other.

This is my way of asking you to trust me.

” Hope held those words tightly. She couldn’t remember being this honest with Angelica before now.

She was purposely stepping into Angelica’s realm when it came to the show, the places where Angelica was talented and wise, and she was asking to be let in.

Angelica nodded and then rested her head back, her shoulders dipping from the move. Her eyelids fluttered shut and she took slow, deep breaths. Was she nauseous again? Or was this her trying to work through what Hope had said when she wasn’t feeling great and was already struggling to keep going?

“Angel…” Hope said, trying to get her attention.

“Why do you call me that?” she asked, opening her eyes and locking them on Hope.

A shiver ran through Hope, settling in the top of her chest in a really uncomfortable way. Why was this conversation, of all the conversations they’d had so far, so intense and true and pure? “I-I don’t know.”

Angelica nodded slowly, her lips pursed. “I’m not an angel, and I’m certainly not yours. Don’t forget that I will hurt you, and I will push you.”

Hope’s lips parted in surprise. “It’s just a nickname.”

“No, it’s not.” Angelica frowned.

A tension held in the air, tightening between them. Hope could barely breathe. She couldn’t take her gaze from Angelica’s, from the sudden loneliness and pain that she found there. Where was all of that coming from? Hope wanted to reach in and touch it, experience it… understand it.

The knock on the door was loud, the doctor announcing she was back. Angelica swallowed and nodded at Hope firmly. “Look at the finances. Let me know what you find.”

Hope breathed out, but that tension was still there. She stood up, stepping to the side to let the doctor do what she needed. She walked out of Angelica’s room and shut the door behind her, stunned.

What just happened?